Editing Pit

{{about|the obstacle found in many [[Mario (franchise)|Mario games]]|the game commonly abbreviated as "PiT"|[[Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time]]|the protagonist of the [[icaruspedia:Kid Icarus (series)|Kid Icarus series]] who appears as a character in the [[Super Smash Bros. (series)|Super Smash Bros. series]]|[[Pit (character)]]}}

A '''pit''', also called an '''abyss''' or '''bottomless pit''', is a common obstacle in [[Genre#Platform|platforming]] video games where no solid ground is programmed. In 2D platformers, pits appear in almost every [[level]]. If a character falls or [[jump]]s into a pit, they will be affected negatively, usually by immediately losing a life. Aesthetically, pits can take many forms, and many of these pits appear to have no bottom; after falling a varying distance down (usually simply below the camera or screen), the player will lose a life, even if an invincibility-granting item is in effect.

While most pits will cause instant death, some will instead warp the player backward or to a particular location (sometimes in addition to losing a life). The pits in ''[[Wario World]]'' lead to [[Unithorn's Lair]], a subterranean cavern, and because players can resume progress once a specific goal has been reached, these cannot be considered bottomless pits.

In ''[[Donkey Kong (game)|Donkey Kong]]'', there are no bottomless pits. [[Mario]] will lose a life if he falls from a height greater than his own. In [[75m|75 m]], touching the bottom floor will subtract a life as if it were a pit.

In ''[[Donkey Kong Jr. (game)|Donkey Kong Jr.]]'', falling from a [[Beanstalk|vine]] or chain will cost a life. The [[Vine Scene]] contains a watery pit, while the first true bottomless pits are in the [[Jump Board Scene]] and [[Mario's Hideout]].

Pits are a common obstacle in the 2D games of the ''[[Super Mario (series)|Super Mario]]'' series. [[Lava]] is essentially a pit. Allowing the player's character to sink through [[quicksand]] is the same as falling into a pit. Certain pits may be only one block wide; in such cases, the player can often [[dash|run]] straight across the pits without falling down as long as they have enough speed. Walking across these narrow pits without running will generally not work.

Although Mario can [[swim]] in some levels of ''[[Super Mario Bros.]]'' and ''[[Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels]]'', if he falls into water in a non-swimming level, he will lose a life just as if it were a pit. In ''Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels'', some backwards Warp Zones have a small pit Mario can fall into to avoid warping backwards.

In ''[[Super Mario 64]]'', in the mansion of [[Big Boo's Haunt]], if Mario falls into a pit, he will end up in the mansion's basement rather than losing a life. Also, in the [[Super Mario 64 DS|DS remake]], if Mario falls into a pit in [[Big Boo Battle]], he will be teleported back to the starting area.

In ''Super Mario Galaxy'' and ''[[Super Mario Galaxy 2]]'', pits often take the form of [[black hole]]s, appearing in island-like [[galaxy|galaxies]] such as [[Beach Bowl Galaxy]] and [[Matter Splatter Galaxy]], although Mario can still lose a life by falling into voids otherwise.

In ''[[Super Mario Maker]]'', the game may play an [[Easter egg]] sound effect upon the player falling into a bottomless pit, with a landing noise suggesting that the pit apparently has a bottom. In these sound effects, Mario is heard to be doing something offscreen. On some occasions, the sound effect will be accompanied by other objects such as a car and several other Marios.

In ''[[Super Mario Odyssey]]'', once Mario hits the pit's event horizon, several [[coin]]s will spill out in each direction and he will lose them before respawning; this is due to the game lacking a life system. If the player falls into a pit in Assist Mode, a [[bubble]] brings them back out and they lose one [[Heart Point|Health Point]].

Pits also appear in the [[Mario Kart (series)|''Mario Kart'']] series, appearing in certain courses such as [[Mushroom Gorge]] from ''[[Mario Kart Wii]]''. When a character drives off the course into a pit, they will yell out as the camera pans down into darkness, and a few seconds later, [[Lakitu]] will lift the character back up and drop them back onto the course, essentially making the pits act as a large time penalty, though they also cost the player a few coins in the games featuring them.

Pits appear in some of the [[minigame]]s in the ''[[Mario Party (series)|Mario Party]]'' series. Falling into a pit usually causes the player to be eliminated, although in a few minigames, such as [[Tile and Error]], falling into one causes the player to be carried back to the playfield. In a few other minigames, such as [[Skyjinks]], players can fall into a pit a certain number of times before being eliminated.

===''Super Paper Mario''===

It is unknown if the pits in ''[[Super Paper Mario]]'' are bottomless, because if Mario, [[Princess Peach]], [[Bowser]], or [[Luigi]] falls into a pit, they will flip back onto solid ground and lose one [[Heart Point|HP]]. A few pits in ''Super Paper Mario'' (on the outskirts of [[Flipside]] and [[Flopside]]) do not hurt the player, instead sending them to a secret room with a [[Trampoline|spring]] and (a) valuable item(s). Also in ''Super Paper Mario'', some [[Shayde]]s are tasked with cleaning pits as punishment in [[The Underwhere]].